


Dance with the Night Howlers

by Empress_Imperia



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 04:08:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30066441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Empress_Imperia/pseuds/Empress_Imperia
Summary: Two years have passed since predator and prey worked together to bring down the Swinton Regime, but the Swinton family is not yet done with the city of Zootopia. Nick and Judy deal with both their feelings and a vengeful pig back from the dead. Benjamin Clawhauser and Chief Bogo face their demons when they are called upon to deal with a deadly serial killer. Secret Agents Alyssa Skyefall and Jack Savage discover the existence of a new terrorist group planning to expand Cheryl Radames’s work. Their respective paths all lead to the same place… the fallen city of Roarcadia.
Relationships: Chief Bogo/Benjamin Clawhauser, Jack Savage/Skye, Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Dance with the Night Howlers

_DATA SHOWS THAT TWO IN ONE HUNDRED PREDATORS SHOWED A HIGHLY AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE TO PROVOCATION WITHOUT COLLARS._

_Invited by Mayor Morgan Elba, nine hundred predators took part in a social experiment in the Meadowland District of Zootopia. The trial was the first of a series of social experiments set up to confirm or disprove reports that TAME Collars were not necessary to prevent savage attacks._

_All nine hundred predators were split into four groups with different rules; Some were required to wear collars and placed in stressful situations designed to encourage a hyper-aggressive response, which the TAME Collars were designed to prevent against. Others were placed in stressful situations without TAME Collars. The electric shock component of the collars was replaced with sensors to monitor how often the collars were triggered._

_When questioned about the possibility that the experiment was biased, Mayor Elba replied; “It is true that I hope that the outcome of the experiment will help the people of Zootopia to understand that they have been misled about the supposed threat that predators pose without the collars. However, that belief does not extend to the mammals managing the experiment. They are only interested in the truth, whatever it may be, and I will stand by whatever conclusion they come to.”_

_After the trials were completed, the data determined that two in one hundred predators showed a hyper-aggressive response with or without the TAME Collars, and most of them had a history of anger issues or other mental health problems that induced aggression._

_Mayor Elba has confirmed that more experiments will be conducted in the future, and he will have no involvement in how they are managed._

_“I oversaw the first experiment primarily to ensure that the right mammals have been placed in charge of such a socially significant initiative.” Mayor Elba said. “Tilda Swinton had flawed ideals, very flawed ideals, but we must give credit where it’s due. She learned from the mistakes of her predecessors and took steps to ensure that predators had more rights than they did twenty years ago. She had selfish motives, that’s true, but she succeeded in curtailing civil unrest and maintaining the peace of our good city. I aim to continue where she left off, and do what I can to ensure that predators are given the respect and fair treatment that they have been denied for far too long.”_

_It is unknown where and when the next experiment will take place, but other cities are beginning to follow Zootopia’s example of investigating the legitimacy of recent TAME Collar reports. The Zoonited States Government itself is believed to be in the process of planning its own series of experiments in order to gather their own unbiased data._

“Unbiased my sweet patootie.”

Roman Horne, of Mouseton Law Offices, turned one of the hooves holding his morning paper and checked his watch; seven minutes left until his appointment. A brown deer of forty, Roman sipped his mocha before turning another page; according to the article on page two, the Palm Hotel was finally going to be reopened next week. Excellent. His husband had missed his weekly visits to the casino, so this would be music to his ears if he hadn’t already heard the news. Making a mental note to call him once the meeting was finished, Roman moved on to the next article and continued reading until his secretary buzzed him.

_“Mr. Horne, your ten o’clock appointment is here.”_

“Thank you, Miss Hartness. Send them through.”

The door opened, and in walked the newly appointed Mayor Morgan Elba. A water buffalo who once worked closely with the late Tilda Swinton, Elba hung his coat on the coat stand and greeted Roman. This was Roman’s first-time seeing the former ZPD Commissioner outside of a television set and a newspaper article, and he was eager to get a good read on the mammal. “Thank you for seeing me so soon.”

“No trouble. Please have a seat.” Roman gestured to one of two waiting chairs.

Elba sat down, his cane propped between his legs. “My friend will be here in a few minutes. If you don’t mind, I’d like to discuss this matter a little in private.”

“Of course.” Roman opened his desk drawer and stuck his hoof in the files. “So, you have some questions about the letter you received yesterday.”

“Correct.”

Roman found the file and put it on his desk. “I wrote the letter myself. If there was anything I didn’t make clear, I do apologise.”

Elba held up a hoof. “There was nothing wrong with the letter itself.”

“Are you concerned that the will may be contested? There are no living relatives that would be able to contest this will, and it was signed in accordance with state laws.”

“Good to know, but that’s not what I meant either.”

Roman opened the file and pulled out the document that was the topic of their meeting. “Then I don’t follow you.”

“You helped Pottermass to write that will. I was hoping that you could provide some insight as to why he would make me a beneficiary.” Elba said. “We weren’t friends, we rarely saw each other, and he never told me that he was going to do this.”

“Ah…” Roman drew out the exclamation as he quickly scanned the will with his eyes. He’d also been puzzled when Pottermass had summoned him to the mansion for the purpose of rewriting his will.

At first, he’d understood completely; with his wife gone, there were no relatives left to bequeath his estate to, so it would all go to the city. Then Pottermass had told him who would be inheriting in Meredith’s place, and though Roman had assisted him without complaint, he’d wondered about the hippo’s motives ever since.

“Pottermass is being posthumously investigated for his involvement in the Night Howler conspiracy.” Elba explained. “Nothing’s been proven yet, but I’m concerned that Pottermass may have had ulterior motives for bequeathing that kind of money. And the property.”

Perfectly understandable, Roman thought, considering that one inheritance had turned out to consist entirely of counterfeit bills. Roman handed the will to Elba for his perusal. “Well, to start with, he had complete testamentary capacity.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Mental capacity. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew how to make it airtight. There’s no evidence that he was unduly influenced, and I know for a fact that the will is legitimate. We did do a little digging into the other beneficiary, at Mr. Schuyler’s request, but there’s no evidence that he influenced Pottermass either. They’d had even less contact than you did, even though he worked in the hippo’s house.”

Elba leaned forward on his cane. “So, do you have _any_ idea why he would put the two of us in his will?”

Roman stroked his bottom lip with his finger as he thought back to that day. It had been the last time he’d seen Pottermass in person before his death. He’d mentioned Meredith often during their meeting, his eyes becoming sadder every time he spoke her name. When the conversation had turned to the possibility of bequeathing his fortune to the state, Zootopia in particular, his entire demeanour had changed…

“Perhaps… he included the pair of you in the will out of spite.” Roman said slowly. Elba raised an eyebrow and waited for the deer to continue. “When we’d spoken, I’d gotten the impression that he did not see City Hall in a favourable light. He may have felt that you deserved the money more than they did.”

Elba nodded, his eyes narrowing. In amusement or disgust, Roman couldn’t tell. “I see. One last ‘fuck you’ to the system. I might have known.”

Roman’s secretary, Miss Hartness, buzzed him once more. _“Mr. Horne, Mr. Clawhauser has arrived.”_

“Good. Send him through.”

Elba exhaled sharply and leaned closer to Roman. “Mr. Horne, there’s something you need to aware of. He doesn’t know about the will.”

Roman blinked. “What? How?”

“His apartment was given away while he was in protective custody, and postal service doesn’t know he’s living with me right now. The letter never reached him.”

Roman sighed as the door opened. This was bound to get interesting, fast.

Benjamin Clawhauser, a cheetah who looked a little too small for his plus-sized clothes, hesitated halfway behind the door. “Elba. You wanted to meet me here?”

Elba nodded and regarded Benjamin with a gentle smile. “Come sit next to me. Mr. Horne has something that he needs to discuss with us.”

Looking worried, Benjamin sat down. Roman scrutinised the young predator. Maybe he didn’t know about the will, maybe he did. But the other servants at the Pottermass residence had all agreed that he’d never directly interacted with their employer. Benjamin wasn’t a caregiver, nor was Pottermass on any medication. There was no conceivable way that the cheetah could have manipulated the will. All the same, the idea of a cheetah inheriting from a hippo, a wealthy one at that, was bizarre, but Roman knew better than to involve his personal feelings.

“Is this about that letter?” Benjamin asked. “You’re not being sued, are you?”

“No, nothing like that, thank god.” Elba said. “I’m sorry for leaving you in the dark, but I felt that I needed to get all the facts before bringing you into this.”

“Okaaay…”

“Shall I just explain?” Roman was going out to meet another client in an hour, and he was growing impatient. “As you may have heard, H.P. Pottermass recently had an unfortunate accident that took his life. Two years before that, his wife, his last remaining relative, died in the same car accident that took the life of your…” He paused when he saw Elba glaring daggers at him. Benjamin was biting his lip and tightening his paws around each other on his lap. Roman coughed, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. “Sorry. I was being insensitive.”

“Horne, get to the point.” Elba said coldly.

Roman let out a breath to gather himself. “The point is that some time before his death, I assisted Pottermass in rewriting his will. His company will still be inherited by Julian Schuyler, his vice president, but the matter of who will inherit his personal property has changed.”

Benjamin gasped, clasped his paws over his mouth, and slowly turned toward Elba. ”O… M... Goodness. How much are you getting?”

“Well, I have the will right here for your perusal, but putting aside the assets connected to Zoocell, Pottermass’s net worth is roughly seventy-billion dollars.”

Benjamin’s jaw dropped. Roman doubted that he had ever imagined seeing even a hundredth of that kind of money.

“Pottermass is leaving me thirty-billion dollars.” Elba said. “It seems that he didn’t trust Swinton to put the money toward helping the city. He probably wanted to make sure that Zootopia would be taken care of once he was gone.”

Not exactly what he and Roman had estimated earlier, but the deer wasn’t going to bring that up either.

“Omigosh.” Benjamin breathed. “How much would that go toward mending the city?”

“Probably not all the way, but it’s a hell of a start.” Elba said. “At the very least it’ll repair all the damage done to City Hall.”  
“That’s fantastic! Omigosh, I’m so happy for you!” Benjamin was grinning now. “You can put what’s left toward helping all the predators who were turned savage! We’ve gotta celebrate! Do you like donuts? I know a place that does a box of sixty!”

“Cool your jets. Mr. Horne is not finished.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right, there’s forty B left.” Benjamin took a deep breath to calm himself and turned back to Roman. “What about the house, and that villa he’s got in Florada? Who’s getting the rest? If you’re not allowed to say, I’ll totally understand!”

“Well, the remainder of the estate is why you’re here.” Roman said.

“Are you wanting a character reference? Can you even do that?”

“Clawhauser, you’re getting a share of the inheritance.”

Benjamin froze. He blinked. He closed his mouth. “… What?”

“You were also included in his will. The will doesn’t explain why, but you’re welcome to read it while you’re here.”

Benjamin treated the document like a venomous snake as he tentatively picked it up and searched for the section that included him.

“No, this… this can’t be right.”

“That’s your full name, right there. There is no doubt.”

“Why? Why would he do this?”

“I don’t know. It’s highly unlikely that you should have to deal with any legal trouble from this. There’s no-one left alive who can contest this will, and Mr. Schuyler stands to lose his share if he tries, as the will also states.”

“But… but he’s giving me…”

“Forty billion dollars, including the house, all items within, the villa, and all three of his cars.”

Roman examined the feline’s reaction closely as he continued to stare at the will, looking for any sign that he was pretending that this was news to him. If Benjamin was acting, he ought to be in theatre.

“Oh my god.” Benjamin dropped the will on the desk. “OH MY GOD!” He ran out the office, repeating his exclamation of shock over and over. “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” Roman could still hear him after the door had shut.

Elba put his weight on his cane as he also got up. “I’ll go get him.”

Once Elba left, Roman leaned back in his chair and swallowed down the last of his mocha. Excitable cheetah aside, that had gone rather well. Predator inheriting from prey… it was the first time that had happened in his law firm. Who’s to say it would be the last?

Pottermass was right. The city was changing. For the worse or the better, only time would tell.


End file.
